What tomatoes are you growing in 2016?
- Thread starter Noah Yates
- Start date
Last night I tried a Bulgarian Old Sort Giant Belgium for the first time... it definitely wins the taste prize thus far!
Got my first Tomato this year.
Woops... it was actually a Giant Belgium! 
Hope not 
lol
I am, but that is a pretty useless forum. They're kind of a closed group, who don't like others that don't think EXACTLY like they do. (sort of a cultish groupthink kinda thing) They really don't seem to want new members, and their purpose of existing with an online presence is a complete mystery. Apparently, the guy who runs the forum is a complete control freak.On a side note... is anyone here a member of tomatoville? I am trying to register an account over there... but I have not been activated after 10 days, and I cannot get in touch with any moderators....
Don't expect any quick response.
That being said, there are some really nice people there, but I'm not well enough behaved for that place. If one were so inclined to start their own forum, I think it would be a huge hit.
I'm not really big on growing a lot of tomatoes, because my climate isn't really conducive to growing good maters. Summers are way too humid, fall and winter are absolutely great for a while, but close to harvest, we're always on the verge of a frost. And the rains... Fighting fungal outbreak is a nightmare.
That being said, I raise a few rather unspectacular varieties.
I'm growing:
Bloody Butcher
Stupice
Indigo Rose (one of my perennial favorites)
Cherokee Tiger Dwarf (one of my absolute favorites)
Some unknown thing that I picked up at Lowes - golf ball size tomatoes by the thousands. Hearty as hell.
I've been a big fan of the Dwarf Tomato project. I love raising full size tomatoes on small plants. Especially since I'm container bound, and short on space. For everyone who doesn't know about it, check them out: www.dwarftomatoproject.net/
After a great tomato year in 2015, 2016 was full of unpleasant surprises - my black krims had much less flavor than last year, my chocolate cherry starters turned out to be a large heirloom with decent flavor but not chocolate cherries, my tie dyes were also not so great. I also tried a black prince which produced one barely edible tomato and then withered away until I finally removed it. Also tried something called a mortgage lifter that produced an abundant and interesting but inconsistent fruit - pinkish-orange with a yellow top. The only plants I could count on this year was a sungold cherry that produced wonderful tomatoes, and almost more than I could eat, and a mystery plant that created most of my sauce tomatoes.
Next year I will order seeds from a reputable seller.
Next year I will order seeds from a reputable seller.
This season I learned a lot about growing tomatoes! Basically... it is 100% true that you absolutely must not let them sprawl on the ground... even if you have mulch and weed barrier. Growing sooo many tomatoes and over-budget, I could not afford to buy cages/stakes/trellis materials for my 1000+ tomato plants. I allowed the plants to sprawl and they quickly got out of control. I was able to harvest several ripe, blemish-free tomatoes. However, the vast majority of the tomatoes were damaged by vermin and/or rotted by fungus.
I turned this somewhat failed tomato fruiting season into a successful seed crop. I harvest all of the seeds from every blemish free ripe tomato I was able to pick and mixed them together in an "heirloom 2016 mix."
Also... I did not let any of the large ruined tomatoes go to waste either... I conducted several outdoor bulk ferments of "rotted" tomato seeds... so I am quite heavily stocked with tomato seeds, but I did not get to enjoy eating too many actual fruits this season.
I turned this somewhat failed tomato fruiting season into a successful seed crop. I harvest all of the seeds from every blemish free ripe tomato I was able to pick and mixed them together in an "heirloom 2016 mix."
Also... I did not let any of the large ruined tomatoes go to waste either... I conducted several outdoor bulk ferments of "rotted" tomato seeds... so I am quite heavily stocked with tomato seeds, but I did not get to enjoy eating too many actual fruits this season.
In no particular order, these are my top 5 overall most outstanding tomatoes of the season out of a field of 178 varieties...
Little Julia (tatiana'stomatoes)-- a neat little currant variety that actually did not germinate until I had placed my seedling trays outside over-night for the first time. This indicates to me that it may require some cold stratification for proper germination rates!? Because it took longer to germinate it also started producing later in the season, but once it got going it produced tons of pea-sized potently palatable little treats.
Purple Bumble Bee (Fiogga)-- an elongated cherry tomato from the wild boar series gifted to me by hot pepper and tomatoville member Fiogga (thanks again!) I planted this variety at my mom's house and it performed very well. It produced throughout the season and is extremely rich in flavor (sweet and tangy simultaneously and very dense.) The fruits are GORGEOUS! Pictures do not do it justice... truly stunning!
Tough Boy/Momotaro (totallytomatoes) -- by far and away the top producer this season as well as being one of the best tasting/textured, blemish-free tomatoes I have ever grown. It is a hybrid tomato, but I am convinced it is a winner. On tomatoville it received a lot of accolades and I feel like it certainly lived up to the hype. Did I mention crack/blemish/disease resistance?! Seriously... large, ripe tomatoes laying face down in the mud are rinsed off to reveal perfect, blemish-free tomatoes, where all other varieties in the same circumstance are rotted!
Purple Russian (heritageseeds) This was my best paste/saucing tomato variety. I did not treat this plant very well and it still produced a decent number of smallish, but very dense and incredibly flavorful tomatoes.
Giant Belgium (tatiana'stomatoes) my favorite heirloom slicer. It produced some fairly large tomatoes, which had that certain quality of rich flavor and density that I keep mentioning. It was the most like the Cherokee purple I grew in 2009, which I have been searching for ever since. Its the type of tomato that makes you truly appreciate the way the plant has mined the soil for nutrients and sequestered them into this delicious delectation you are enjoying. Sparks of flavor with a buttery smooth texture. When slicing it, one feels as though carving a perfectly marbled rib-eye steak cooked to perfection.
Keep in mind, my garden was sub-optimal this season, so not every variety had a fair chance to express themselves, which is why I cannot wait to trial most of the varieties again in the seasons to come. Next season I hope to have a fence around my garden as well as proper stakes and cages! Woooot!
Little Julia (tatiana'stomatoes)-- a neat little currant variety that actually did not germinate until I had placed my seedling trays outside over-night for the first time. This indicates to me that it may require some cold stratification for proper germination rates!? Because it took longer to germinate it also started producing later in the season, but once it got going it produced tons of pea-sized potently palatable little treats.
Purple Bumble Bee (Fiogga)-- an elongated cherry tomato from the wild boar series gifted to me by hot pepper and tomatoville member Fiogga (thanks again!) I planted this variety at my mom's house and it performed very well. It produced throughout the season and is extremely rich in flavor (sweet and tangy simultaneously and very dense.) The fruits are GORGEOUS! Pictures do not do it justice... truly stunning!
Tough Boy/Momotaro (totallytomatoes) -- by far and away the top producer this season as well as being one of the best tasting/textured, blemish-free tomatoes I have ever grown. It is a hybrid tomato, but I am convinced it is a winner. On tomatoville it received a lot of accolades and I feel like it certainly lived up to the hype. Did I mention crack/blemish/disease resistance?! Seriously... large, ripe tomatoes laying face down in the mud are rinsed off to reveal perfect, blemish-free tomatoes, where all other varieties in the same circumstance are rotted!
Purple Russian (heritageseeds) This was my best paste/saucing tomato variety. I did not treat this plant very well and it still produced a decent number of smallish, but very dense and incredibly flavorful tomatoes.
Giant Belgium (tatiana'stomatoes) my favorite heirloom slicer. It produced some fairly large tomatoes, which had that certain quality of rich flavor and density that I keep mentioning. It was the most like the Cherokee purple I grew in 2009, which I have been searching for ever since. Its the type of tomato that makes you truly appreciate the way the plant has mined the soil for nutrients and sequestered them into this delicious delectation you are enjoying. Sparks of flavor with a buttery smooth texture. When slicing it, one feels as though carving a perfectly marbled rib-eye steak cooked to perfection.
Keep in mind, my garden was sub-optimal this season, so not every variety had a fair chance to express themselves, which is why I cannot wait to trial most of the varieties again in the seasons to come. Next season I hope to have a fence around my garden as well as proper stakes and cages! Woooot!
Well my tomato crop got destroyed by tomato worms but I did save two curtis cheek tomatoes that I gave my mom.
She reported to me that they was winners even when green.
So I bet fully ripe they would be outstanding.
So one to grow at my moms next season
She reported to me that they was winners even when green.
So I bet fully ripe they would be outstanding.
So one to grow at my moms next season
I started growing tomatoes in a modified "Hempy Bucket" setup this year. My first crop is up and running, and damn do they look good. I'm growing tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets that aren't recommended for 5 gallon buckets - but I really like it, because I can grow a lot of fruit, without having to grow a lot of plant. Purple Cherokee, pictured.
